TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court ruled Jan, 4 on a lawsuit filed nearly 10 years ago, alleging Florida was not doing enough to provide quality education to students, on grounds that the plaintiffs' allegations were without merit.
The lawsuit, originally filed by Citizens for Strong Schools, was rejected on the grounds that the plaintiffs failed to bring any standard that was measurable in terms of judging the quality of education.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the plaintiffs originally declared that the state did not do what they ought to in order to provide "an efficient, safe, secure and uniform high-quality education."
Patricia Levesque of Foundation for Florida's Future
| Courtesy of Foundation for Florida's Future
Foundation for Florida's Future, a non-profit that works to ensure high education is delivered to students in the state, praised the decision, calling it the right choice for the state of Florida.
“[We] celebrate a ruling that, above all else, is a victory for students and their families. Florida is on track to providing a high-quality, student-centered education to every student across the state," Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future told Florida Record.
Levesque said despite the arguments of the Citizens for Strong Schools, Florida has done a great deal to ensure that the education standards are high for their students.
“By sustaining a focus on early literacy, rigorous school accountability and public and private education options for families, Florida is reversing decades of failure," Levesque said. “Two decades of hard work by Florida’s leadership, talented educators and engaged parents have made this possible. We have a moral imperative to continue building upon this progress so that every Florida student can achieve their full potential through a quality education.”
The ruling was made by a slim majority of justices, including Charles Canady, Al Lawson and Jorge Labarga.